Finger Lakes District, part 1
Hunt Country Vineyard tasting room. Every tasting room visited was full of enthusiasm and wine buying consumers…Who knew?
Keuka Lake Wine Trail
You take two California wine snobs, add gorgeous upstate New York scenery, shake with a little ice, and serve some local wines made from vinifera grapes and what do you have? Two happy campers!
Today we drove from Niagara Falls to New York State’s renowned Finger Lakes Wine District. This district had been producing wine since the 1800s, predictably first started by a minister...:) Prohibition and post Prohibition California success led to a dormant period, but they are certainly catching up now! There are currently about 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes, along with a blooming brewing industry.
We only made two stops on this wine trail today, although we may likely return! The first was to Hunt Country Vineyards. A beautiful property with a cafe and gift-shop, and very knowledgeable and friendly staff. 5 wines for 5 dollars. My favorites were the dessert wine, a late harvest wine. Actually a tart dessert wine, with hints of green apple.
Not the tasting room menu found in CA
Hunt Country Vineyard.
Great views from Hunt Country Vineyard’s tasting room.
The best stop was to 1962, Dr. Konstantin Frank’s pioneering winery founded in 1962. We arrived with a crowd, but were soon settled into the peaceful tasting room with 2 amazing staff, George and Colleen, and very few patrons. Where did the crowd go? We paid 10 dollars for reserve tasting and they went to the free zone...presumably they tasted wine, but I had this vision of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where they disappeared down some tube!
George was a great host. I tried the sparkling rose, which was delicious, followed by some dry red wines: Cabernet franc, Pinot noir, Sparavi and Lena Reserve Red. George kindly also let us taste Cuvée d’Amore. Sparavi is a grape Native to the Republic of Georgia, and it is a “black grape.” The wine was rich in color and deep in flavor, one of the best of the day. The cuvée was made from a grape that is grown on the border between China and Russia (Siberia to be specific). This wine was a delight.
George sent us off to dine at Lakeside Restaurant and Tavern which was fabulous, but you have to read that blog entry to discover more! After dinner we headed off to our home away from home, The Boathouse Beer Garden. Boathouse Beer Garden is a Harvest Host which allows RVs to spend the night for free.
For more info on Harvest Host, check out their website at www.harvesthosts.com
To learn more about the history and great wines at Dr. Konstantin Frank’s winery, drfrankwines.com
This was the beginning. Wine Pioneers at work
